Finally Home

My second week at William Holland was a week I won't forget anytime soon.

Mr. Allen Jewell (Yes, that really is his name. When I lived in Las Vegas I had a pottery instructor who's name is Potter...) was kind enough to allow me the pleasure of sitting in his Silver One class.

When it comes to this craft I still have so much to learn. Some Silver One teachers only want beginners in their classes and I understand this so I promised Allen I would do all of his projects and stay with the rest of the class. Well, we all flew through the six projects he laid out for us! By Tuesday night we were all asking "what's next?" and were hungry for more. Although the majority of the student were indeed beginners, we all kept Allen moving on coming up with new projects! (He has this great binder of projects and material kits that go right along with them, I am envious of his organization!)

One evening Allen invited me back to the classroom after dinner to work on another project, I chose what I thought would be the most complicated of his projects...I think I was right, his square ring;

I love the lines of this ring!

It was fun working along side Allen and playing with all of his tools.

(He introduced me to a steel jig that I MUST get.) This jig was really the only way to get this ring square. Allen made the exact same ring and they both came out great! Our other projects were simple but were techniques that I had yet to learn:

Allen's Split Shank Ring.

Twisted Wire Bracelet

(and a ring from leftover's!)

Spiral Earrings

As we moved through the week Allen challenged us all in our own ways, for me it was setting faceted stones and making my own prong settings:

All of the rings and prongs were made from wire and soldered for a total of 11 solder joints!

I now have a small pile of nails on my solder bench!

I have since completed my Captured Ocean piece. 

Spending the additional week up at school was invaluable and I thank Jeff from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity, it was a long week of driving for him. 

Last week I got the news that I have been accepted to the Sandy Springs Art Festival near Atlanta in the middle of September so all my current efforts are to get as much as I can get done for that show. Then the season picks up for all of us on the circuit.

Keep an eye open, I will be posting  long awaited shop updates with new pieces!

Thanks for stopping by!